Protective equipment is worn by many people in different fields, for example members of the armed forces or police force and those participating in sports such as football, hockey, rugby etc, in order to protect parts of the body from injury. Protective equipment is also sometimes worn by animals such as horses.
Most protective equipment is mass produced and thus consumers are given the choice of a few limited sizes and shapes. Since each person's anatomy is different this means that the protective equipment does not always fit the individual as well as it should in order to prevent injury. Indeed badly fitting equipment can result in discomfort to the individual in use and can result in injury.
Some efforts have been made to mitigate these problems but these relate to the production of highly specialized bespoke protective equipment that is specifically manufactured to fit the individual. Such highly customized equipment is very expensive, in part due to the requirement for highly trained technical staff to take appropriate measurements, and is thus not a viable option for many people, for example those participating in sports at an amateur level.
The following approach has been devised in view of drawbacks of known systems.